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Sorris Valorum
Sorris Valorum was an Imperial Grand Moff with ambitions for dominance over the galaxy. Embittered by the death of his father, former Supreme Chancellor Finis Valorum, Sorris vowed to destroy Emperor Palpatine. A group of near-Sephi, led by Cosmic priest Syksdal, joined Valorum in his endeavors, providing him with divine guidance by way of the Cosmic Destiny. History Early Life The son of Supreme Chancellor Finis Valorum, Sorris was a young man when his father was ousted from power during the Naboo Crisis. Though he primarily blamed the machinations of then Senator Palpatine for his father’s demise, he was also acutely aware of the sway that corrupt bureaucrats has held over his father and how that contributed to his downfall. Service to the Republic Navy During the Clone Wars, Sorris Valorum joined the Grand Army of the Republic, serving as a captain in the Republic Navy. He fought in the battle of Mygeeto where he gained valuable command experience. Finis Valorum was assassinated in 21 BBY, an act Chancellor Palpatine blamed on the Separatists. Sorris was skeptical of this theory and , with support from his ally Senator Garm Bel Iblis, launched his own investigation. He was assisted in this by Dolwethil Vregedúr under the alias Morrigan Polaris, who was acting as Bel Iblis' secretary. Sorris came to the conclusion that the CIS had no motive to want his father’s death whereas Chancellor Palpatine himself did. Sorris Valorum, now the patriarch of his house, vowed to revenge himself on Palpatine. Service to the Empire When Palpatine instated the Galactic Empire, Sorris feigned unquestioning loyalty. Palpatine may not have totally trusted him, but his name and forceful personality made him an ideal candidate for a Moff. Despite this, Sorris was never as popular with the Emperor as the charismatic Wilhuff Tarkin. A feud between Tarkin and Valorum was inevitable, owing to their families being long-time rivals on the planet Eriadu. Eventually, Tarkin won out, being promoted by the Emperor to Grand Moff. Sorris was transferred to the backwater Braxant sector, an inglorious charge for any high-ranking Imperial. Nevertheless, this position was perfect for Valorum. The Capital world of the Braxant Sector, Sartinaynian (later Bastion), was nearly impregnable owing to its recent conversion to a fortress world. This, combined with the relatively peaceful sector allowed Valorum to build up his forces and scheme the downfall of the Emperor. As Moff of the Braxant sector near the edge of the known galaxy, Valorum came in contact with the people of the Red Nebula and their faith of the Cosmic Destiny. Priests and priestesses of the faith were strong proponents of destiny and fate and also had some roots in the study of the force. Valorum was attracted to this obscure faith due to a prophecy of a hero taking the galaxy from a great evil. The prophecy also spoke of the hero being from a great line, as well as that he would make the galaxy strong in order to defend against a great outside attack. This prophecy appealed to Valorum who believed himself to be the hero spoken of. He began to believe himself destined to overthrow the Emperor and that ruling the galaxy was his birthright. After being made Moff, Valorum was placed in command of an old Praetor Mark II-class Battlecruiser named Chancellor's Revenge. It was built by Kuat Drive Yards during the Clone Wars, being named for Palpatine and the war he waged on the rebelling Separatists. Although officially renamed Emperor's Revenge, the ship's name, now in the possession of Sorris Valorum, took on a new meaning; the revenge he intended to exact upon the original namesake, on behalf of former chancellor Valorum. Sorris spent nearly a decade since his first encounter with the Cult of Cosmic Destiny until he was ready to launch his attack against the Emperor. Sorris planned to lead his fleet of augmented Interdictor cruisers to trap the Emperor’s fleet at Endor where the second Death Star was under construction. Meanwhile he would incite rebellion against the Emperor with the support of other Moffs. Perhaps ironically, the Rebel Alliance launched an attack against the Second Death Star before Valorum could execute his plan, and the Emperor died aboard it. The Cosmic Priest Syksdal spun this event as proof that the Cosmic Destiny was in Valorum’s favor, and encouraged him to secede from the Empire like many other Moffs at the time. Sorris did so, hoping that the Alliance to Restore the Republic would rally to his name and provide him with the means to take over the galaxy. Instead, however, the Alliance ignored him, wishing to elect a leader from among their own instead of following another Imperial despot. Pentastar Alignment Moff Valorum came into conflict with Tarkin’s replacement, Grand Moff Ardus Kaine soon after, who attempted to secure the loyalty of the Braxant Sector as part of his new Pentastar Alignment of Powers. Despite Syksdal’s encouragement to keep fighting against the superior Pentastar forces, Valorum soon surrendered to Kaine, retaining his position as Moff of the Braxant Sector. This created a rift between Syksdal and Valorum, who began to suspect the near-Sephi was using him for personal gain. While a part of the Pentastar Alignment, Valorum’s ubiquitous use of Immobilizer 419 cruisers led to the development of the Enforcer-class picket cruiser which helped shape the backbone of the Alignment navy. Valorum and Syksdal reunited in 9 ABY during the early days of the planning of Operation Shadow Hand. Syksdal told Valorum that the Emperor lived. However rather than encouraging Valorum to act against the Emperor, Syksdal suggested Valorum use his influence to convince Ardus Kaine to enter the war on behalf of the Emperor. Syksdal said that the Cosmic Destiny was still in Valorum’s favor and that both Kaine and Palpatine would end up killed during the campaign. After many years of seeing no progress towards his goal, Valorum agreed to gamble on this. He successfully convinced Ardus Kaine to join Operation Shadow Hand and was appointed as the Defender of the Alignment to protect Kaine’s territory while he was away. Imperial Remnant As Syksdal had seen, Palpatine and Kaine both died during the operation, and Moff Valorum was elected as Kaine’s successor as Grand Moff of the Alignment. Valorum rewarded Syksdal greatly for his accurate vision of the future, and began drafting plans to strike at the New Republic. Valorum’s new-found power was largely illusory, however, and within a year, Gilad Pellaeon’s rapidly forming Imperial Remnant was knocking at his door. Pellaeon having already captured Ardus Kaine’s flagship Reaper, was viewed by many of the ruling Moffs to be a strong and respectable leader, and urged Valorum to join the Remnant. Initially, Valorum refused, resulting in a single engagement between Pellaeon and Valorum over Entralla. After consulting Syksdal and parleying with Pellaeon, however, Valorum agreed to be annexed by the Remnant. One condition was made, however, to make the Imperial capital Sartinaynian, Valorum’s longtime seat of power. Pellaeon renamed the world “Bastion” due to the extensive fortifications built across the planet by Valorum. Despite being promoted to Grand Moff, Valorum was largely unhappy serving under Pellaeon. Valorum was convinced that it was he who deserved control of the galaxy, and no other. Syksdal and the Red Nebula Zealots who retained much authority on Bastion constantly encouraged this unease, still telling him that the Cosmic Destiny was in his favor. In an effort to preserve the Valorum name, Sorris married a fellow Moff’s daughter, Jara Aleston. Jara gave him two children, a daughter named Tullia Valorum born in 14 ABY, and a son named Laecus Valorum born in 16 ABY. Despite marrying Jara purely out of necessity, Sorris was a good husband, and the couple were fair with one another, both having a very pragmatic and determined mindset. Jara became fascinated with the Cult of Cosmic Destiny, and formed a close bond with Syksdal. Raising his children preoccupied Valorum for several years until the Sith reemerged and began subjugating the Imperial Remnant. Pellaeon and much of the Imperial leadership was killed early on, leaving Grand Moff Sorris Valorum in charge of a rapidly crumbling remnant. Sorris fought the Sith with everything he had at his disposal, winning a handful of victories against Sith forces at Venestria, Endoraan, and Bescane. Eventually, however, the Sith beat back the Moff’s forces to Bastion. Faced with the nigh-impenetrable defenses of the planet, Empress Calamitous opted to parley with Valorum. The Grand Moff agreed to surrender to the Sith, but demanded he retain his rank of Grand Moff as well as allotting the Braxant Sector as an independent subsidiary of the Empire. Such terms were a hard gamble, but Sorris had tired of compromising. Somewhat surprisingly, the Empress agreed to the terms, and the Sith officially acquired the Imperial Remnant with the signing of the Treaty of Jaemus, establishing anew a Galactic Sith Empire. Sith Empire In the intermediary years between the establishment of the Sith Empire and the outbreak of the First Sith-Mandalorian War, Valorum once again devoted himself to building up his forces and influence, confident as ever in his divine right to claim lordship of the galaxy. Sorris saved many older Imperial officers from Sith military purges by bringing them under his authority in the Braxant Sector, By doing so, Valorum built up a strong power base of seasoned commanders such as Marshal Terrence Horne. Rising to one of the most powerful non-Sith within the Empire, Sorris encouraged Sith aggression against the Mandalorian Empire. This eventually proved disastrous, though the Empire survived the war. Recognizing the Mandalorian Empire as the greatest threat to the unification and peace that in his mind the Galaxy requires, Sorris takes a very firm anti-Mandalorian stance, resenting the alliance brokered between them. Personality and Traits Sorris Valorum was always known to be level headed and blunt, wasting no time with minced words or lies. He harbors an intense pragmatic drive to achieve his goals but refuses to engage in niceties to achieve them. Often this behavior does not win him friends or allies. However, his unwillingness to compromise is occasionally beneficial, as can be seen by the Treaty of Jaemus.